Metal handling



May 13, 1947.

F. M. STALNAKER ET AL METAL HANDLING Filed Dec. 5, 1945 Patented May 13, 1947 METAL HANDLING Frederick M. Stalnaker, Weston, and Paul P. Shaver, Spelter, W. Va., assignors to E. I.

du Pont de Nemours & Company,

Wilmington,

Del., a corporation of Delaware Application December 5, 1945, Serial No. 632,963 1 Claim. (Cl. 2145105) This invention relates to the handling of metal and is more particularly directed to a process for handling and shipping metal units, to the configuration of the units, and to an assembly of such units.

'In the past it has been the practice to cast various metals, such as zinc, into slabs or pallets which are of a size and shape such that a man can easily handle them. When such slabs are stacked in piles for storage or in the course of shipping, there is a safety hazard because individual elements of the pile or stack are apt to become displaced and to fall upon and injure workmen. The individual handling of such slabs has further necessitated a great deal of hand labor in moving a stack or pile from one location to another.

It has also been proposed to form a stack of metal units. as in the Mitchell Patent 2,119,112. In this arrangement the elements are provided with openings which permit stacking and prevent displacement of the elements relative to each other. Such a stack can easily be handled with a standard type of lifting-truck, as illustrated in the patent and as generally practiced with various heavy articles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide cast metal elements which are of simple configuration and which may easily be stacked to form an assembly which can be handled without danger of displacement of the elements. It is a further object to provide cast metal slabs and pallets which are readily cast and easily removed from the molds. It is a further object to provide assemblies of metal pieces which can be handled mechanically with a fork-lift truck or other power-operated lifting device or conveyor. Further objects will become apparent hereinafter.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are attained by the use of slabs and pallets of a configuration more particularly shown in the drawings and by an assembly of such elements as illustrated. The invention will be better understood by reference to the drawings in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show a plan and elevation of a metal slab according to the invention; and

Figures 3 and 4 represent a plan and elevation of a pallet; and

Figure 5 is an exploded showing of an assembly of elements according to the invention.

Referring more specifically to the figures, there will be seen inFigure 5 an assembly of a plurality of slabs of metal arranged according to the invention. The pallets, or base slabs, l, are first arranged side-by-side to form a support for the pile. Next, a pair of metal slabs 6 is placed on top of the base slabs I, the greatest length of the slabs 6 running at right angles to the greatest length of the pallets. Similarly, another pair of slabs 6 is placed on the pair already put in place, and this second pair is at right angles tothe previous pair and of course parallel to the pallet. Thus, succeeding layers are built up with pairs of the slabs 6 to form a stable assembly which will not shift and fall apart in handling even though the elements are not strapped in place. It will be understood that Figure 5 is an "exploded showing and that the elements illustrated all move into place and rest upon each other for a correct visualization of the actual pile of slabs.

The base slabs, or pallets, are further illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 in which I represents the body of the slab. This slab body is approximately twice as long as it is wide and is provided with a recess. or cut-away portion, along the long edges. The reason for the element being twice as long as it is wide will be apparent by reference to Figure 5 in which it will be seen that in each layer two elements lie crosswise upon the pair below, which determines the relative shape of the elements,

At the ends of the slab I there are provided legs 2, which support the pile a sufllcient distance from the floor or other surface upon which it rests to permit the ready insertion of a liftingfork, cables, or other lifting device. The legs 2 and, in fact, all the vertical surfaces of the slab, are inclined in a direction such that the metal is thinner at the bottom than at the top. This provides draft" which permits the slab readily to fall from the mold.

The considerations as to the depth of the recess 5 are the same as those applicable to the recess 9 in the slabs as will be discussed hereinafter. In general it may be observed that the cut-away portion 5 should be sufficiently deep to provide shoulders 3 which will assure against.

displacement of the elements resting upon the pallets.

The slabs B are more particularly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and will be seen to comprise a body portion 6. This body portion is approximately twice as long as it is wide and is provided with a recess 9 leavin-g shoulders 8 at each of the four corners. At each end of the slab 6 is provided a depending flange I. As will be best seen, in Figure 5, the flange I does not extend the shoulder of a slab next below in the pile.

full width of the slab but comes enough short to form a shoulder 8 which rests upon a sim ilgr e flange I should of course be wide enough in a direction normal to the face of the slab to prevent accidental displacement of the slabs and yet it should not be so long as to engage the next slab which is in the same relative position. In other words, it should depend no more than about the thickness of the slab.

The depth of the recess 9 should be adequate to assure against displacement of the slab elements. Its length is such that the portions 8 are of a size great enough for ready casting. It will be apparent upon inspection that the dimensions of the recess 9 and the spacing of the flanges I must be correlated. In other words, the distance between the depending flanges I will be seen to be somewhat greater than twice the width of the slab at the cutaway portion plus twice the depth of the recess, or this could be expressed by saying that the distance between the flanges 1 is at least twice the width of the slab 'at its greatest width less twice the depth 01' the recess. It is thought that the relationship and relative proportions will be obvious from an inspection of Figure and that one skilled in the art will find no difliculty in constructin slabs and pallets for assembly as illustrated according to the invention.

The flanges 7 and all of the vertical surfaces of the slab have sides that converge in a downward direction to provide "draft." This permits the slabs as wellas the base elements readily to be removed from a mold.

It will be seen that by the use of slabs and pallets as illustrated, one is enabled readily to cast 4 a metal into forms which can be handled and shipped with a minimum of labor and expense. The forms are extremely simple and yet the assembly is safe and can be handled as a unit without strapping. The individual slabs will have asize and weight such that they can readily be handled by hand labor. The invention is obviously applicable to the handling of any metal but has been found particularly successful for the handling of zinc metal.

We claim:

An assembly ot -metal slabs adapted for handling and shipping as a unit comprising a pair of base slabs each of which has a long, shallow, rectangular recess on each of its longitudinal edges and each of which has depending legs at each of its two narrow ends, a pair of slabs resting upon said base slabs, each of which is substantially twice as long as it is wide and each of which has a, long, shallow, rectangular recess on each longitudinal edge, and each of which has depending flanges at its two'narrow ends; the said flanges engaging the rectangular recess in the base slabs, the assembly containing addition- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: V

"UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Mitchell May 31, 1938 Number 

